Chapter 31. Perhaps

He laid the flowers in the middle of the mound. He remembered those days that he would come here with a mat and just laid there looking at the sky. The silence calmed him but not the storm in his heart.

Six years.

Just saying that made it sound like an eternity ago. Only that it wasn’t. Until now he still could not believe she was gone and every single dream they had together. He loved Ha In and it would probably never going to go away so thinking about the way Seo Joohyun affected him was something so unbelievable. Is he falling in love with her? He could not remember how it felt to be in love.

Or could he?

All Yonghwa knew was that he loved Ha In but he too needed to move on. A low moan escaped him and only then he realized he was crying. Why does it feel like he couldn’t do that?

He swallowed hard— he was only sure of one thing. He wants Joohyun like he never wanted anybody else in his life and it was crazy. It was like an addiction— she is his addiction.

Closing his eyes once last time, he whispered to the wind, “I’m sorry…”

He slipped the ring off his finger and hastily put it inside his pocket.

He was never this certain.

~~~

 “Is this some kind of a joke?” Hyoyeon lifelessly smiled at Joohyun while the latter was doing something on her laptop.

“I guess it’s not,” Joohyun answered with the same expression, “I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand you. I can’t stand him sometimes,” she rolled her eyes then the younger girl laughed, “But I thought you were getting along fine now. I didn’t think you will end up like this.”

“Me too… I thought we were fine…” she sadly shook her head and closed her notebook, “Just… just take care of him, will you? Even though he is such an impossible person.”

“I have no choice,” she grabbed the nearest seat and sat beside her, “But I hope we can still hang out. I will miss my buddy…”

“Oh, Unnie! You’re one of the reasons I stayed, do you know that?” She rested her head on Hyoyeon’s shoulder, “But now I’m so done with him. We will still be in the same company and same building so, yeah, we will hang out some time…”

“Good!” Hyoyeon gathered herself, “Gotta go now, don’t want the dragon to find me here.”

“Where is he, by the way?”

“No idea, he did not report this morning,” she shrugged.

“So he hasn’t seen the notice yet?”

“Exactly,” Hyoyeon opened the door and waved at her, “Good luck!”

“Yeah, I need that…” she sighed heavily.

Joohyun made up her mind and convinced herself to just forget about everything—that Yonghwa Jung and whatever he did and made her feel. She will go back on her own world and live it like before. Drop the feelings, kill the guy in her heart. At least now she knew how it feels to love someone who will never ever give back any feelings for her instead make those smart comments about her. Hurt her heart and her ego.

She tried to finish all her backlogs before he comes since she was not in the mood to deal with his temper. It was the deal she had with her appa that she should report first to him for the proper turn over and Yonghwa just made it easier for not showing up. Few minutes of complete torture before she leaves.

The door opened and her heart pounded. It was almost after office hours. For a moment, she thought he stopped in front of her but maybe she was just hallucinating.

Yonghwa stopped in front of her for a moment. Maybe to apologize? He walked straight to his table and started leafing through the new documents that needed his attention for the day.

Then he saw it.

The bold letters seemed bolder and he needed to reread it for a couple of times. NOTICE TO TRANSFER. He stood and took the paper with him out of the door then asked Hyoyeon about it for which she replied that the Office of the President sent it early that morning. It was an order and the tone sounded as if he cannot object to it anymore.

Yonghwa barged in back to his office just in time to see her fill that little brown box with all her whatnots on her desk. He shoved the paper in front of her and it landed just on top of the box.

“What’s this?”

“Notice to Transfer,” she took the paper and placed it on the nearly empty desk then continued packing without looking at him. She murmured sarcastically, “All these time I thought you could read…”

“Yeah, I can see what it is!” Yonghwa grumbled in exasperation for she was getting smart on him again.

“Then why are you asking?!” Joohyun barked back realizing that there was really no way she was going to have her quiet exit.

“Because this doesn’t make any sense!” His palms landed on the table as he challenged her back.

“What doesn’t make sense?” Joohyun finally stood and faced him, “What’s too hard to understand?”

Yonghwa just watched her for a moment as if gauging that reaction she was wearing. She looked so pale yet her skin was starting to get flushed— obviously from anger. That beautiful face was clouded with that negative feeling that he caused yet all he wanted was to grab her by the waist and kiss her hard and long until they could no longer breathe. He touched his finger and was reminded that he was no longer wearing the ring that had been a constant reminder of his past.

This time, he vowed to have a new meaning. He was going to have her whether she’d want to have him as well or not. A smirk formed on his face and saw how her eyes narrowed as if challenging his sudden disdain. “Do you think I will give you up that easily?” Yonghwa asked with that hint of sharpness on his voice.

“What?!” Joohyun could not believe what she just heard